University Malaysia Perlis, Malaysia

Community Development Project for poor families and the B40 group in Arau, Perlis: Post pandemic COVID-19

Since the Covid-19 outbreak, most of the underprivileged communities in Arau, Perlis, Malaysia have been unemployed and have no source of income. For most of them, no source of income means no access to healthy food and nutrition, among others.

In light of this, our team in University Malaysia Perlis has successfully granted Hasanah Special Grant (HSG) from Yayasan Hasanah, to implement the project involving community development for poor families and the B40 group in Arau, Perlis.

The objective of the project is to help these communities in need, especially those living in remote area such as Kampung Jelempok, providing them with the relevant knowledge and skills to grow their own vegetables and to cultivate mushrooms for a sustainable livelihood. We have set-up a Community Garden in 5 different schools around Arau, cumulatively producing 1.2 tons of mushrooms and 1.2 tons of vegetables for own consumption and as a source of income at the end of the project.

Top 3 Learnings

1. We successfully helped affected, underprivileged communities during tough times of the Covid-19 pandemic, to equipped them with knowledge and skills on growing own, healthy food and a sustainable livelihood.
2. We encouraged the team to persevere noting that a lot of people in our local communities are badly affected and need a helping hand.
3. Our team has managed to bring a holistic, sustainable, and whole-life approach to the communities in need.